Police winning the war against crime- Nqakula

Police are winning the war against crime and driving down the levels of criminal activity in the country, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has told Parliamentarians.

Tabling his Budget Vote in Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Nqakula said the new crime trends report which is to be released soon indicates that the crime rate is being steadily reduced.

"Of course, more work needs to be done given that, despite the downward trend in crime levels, the levels of violent crimes are still unacceptably high."

He said this would mean that the police must do more to create a safe and secured environment that is defined in their mandate.

Despite government's calls for South Africans to help in building safer and more secure communities by mobilising against crime, another recent survey revealed that citizens need to do more to protect themselves.

According to a survey realised by the Institute for Security Studies on the 2007 National Victim Survey conducted during October to November 2007 found that 60 percent of the people that were interviewed had done nothing.

The report found that at least 75 percent of the people who reported the crime felt safer as a result.

Government believes that every citizen has a role to play in combating crime in the country, and that it was well documented that partnerships with communities and neighbourhoods have yielded good results.

The survey further revealed that crime in South Africa has decreased by 12 percent since 1998 and four percent since 2003.

According to the report, the notable decreases where mainly in housebreaking, corruption, theft from vehicles and stock theft.

"We are going to be discussing in due course, here in Parliament, and at other levels of human endeavour in our country, Bills that seek to define new ways of dealing with organised crime," Mr Nqalula said.

He told Parliamentarians that government wanted to create a Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation which will be comprised of the best experience from the Directorate of Special Operations and the police's Organised Crime Unit and Commercial Branch.

The unit will replace the Scorpions and he also announced that state-of-the-art technology has been procured to equip a new unit to deal with organised crime.

"That matter is not for today's discussion but is an important matter to be discussed by all of us as we all strive to find the best measures to deal with organised crime."

Mr Nqakula also announced that steps were being taken to increase the number of prosecutions by appointing organised crime prosecutors to provide guidance and assistance to detectives investigating these cases. - BuaNews

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